Kvirike III of Kakheti

Who was Kvirike III of Kakheti?

Kvirike III the Great was a ruler of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1010 to 1037 or 1039.

He succeeded upon the death of his father David as a prince and chorepiscopus of Kakheti, but King Bagrat III of Georgia captured him and conquered Kakheti. Following Bagrat’s death in 1014, Kvirike was able to recover the crown, took control of the neighboring region of Hereti and declared himself King of Kakheti and Hereti. Under Kvirike III, the kingdom experienced a period of political power and prosperity. In 1027, Kvirike joined the combined armies of Bagrat IV of Georgia led by Liparit Orbeliani and Ivane Abazasdze, Emir Jaffar of Tiflis, and the Armenian King David I of Lorri against the Shaddadid emir of Arran, Fadhl II, who was decisively defeated at the Eklez River. Around the same time, Kvirike III annihilated an invasion force led by the Alan king Urdure who had crossed the Caucasus Mountains into Kakheti only to be killed in a pitched battle. At the zenith of his power and prestige, Kvirike was assassinated while hunting in 1037/39. According to the Georgian historian Vakhushti, this was done by Kvirike's Alan slave who sought to avenge for the death of King Urdure. On Kvirike’s death, Kakheti was temporarily annexed to the Kingdom of Georgia.